On Monday, the New York Times exposed some of the cruelest, most gruesome animal abuse on US soilincluding death by rape and starvation (as reported in the Huffington Post), only for readers to find out that the abuse was TAXPAYER funded and initiated by the USDA.

The facts and eyewitness accounts uncovered by the Times are gut-wrenching. In just one particularly gruesome experiment recounted from the Times story, a teenage cow had her “head locked in a cagelike device to keep her immobile.” She was raped by as many as six bulls for hours, until her back legs were broken and her body was “torn apart,” and she died.

This situation is so dire and horrific, that all animal advocates — from cats and dogs lovers to vegans — must speak out right now! Here’s what to do. Please do all these items (they don’t take long):

Make a call to USDA’s Secretary Vilsack’s office during business hours and explain how outraged you are. Tell them to close the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center immediately. The direct line to reach his office is 202-720-3631. They may also give you an email address to email them, but insist that you can leave a message for the Secretary.

Ask all your family and friends to take these actions as well — because we can only expect an immediate stop to this abuse if we all speak up.

The New York Times posted letters expressing the outrage of the public on this issues, include a letter for The Humane Society of the United State’s CEO, Wayne Pacelle saying:

The grotesque and inhumane experiments performed on pigs, sheep and other farm animals at an obscure and secluded Agriculture Department research facility in Nebraska demonstrate the unholy collusion between government and industry in driving production on factory farms and in the process treating animals like machines and throwaway objects. Apparently, it’s not enough to confine farm animals for their entire lives in windowless buildings and in cages and crates on factory farms. We are also engineering them to grow at absurdly fast rates and to produce inordinately large litters, which often cause misery and death for the animals.

In addition to speaking out, you need to boycott the the meat, dairy and egg industry. Think of the chickens, cows, pigs and sheep who have suffered at the hands of the USDA and the meat industry. Those animals deserve your boycott of the agro-industry that hurt them.

If you do eat animal products ensure that 100% of the meat and eggs you buy are from suppliers that attempt to provide the highest animal welfare standards (as confirmed by animal welfare advocates). Note that there is NO SUCH THING as more humane dairy — so avoid dairy at all costs. The dairy industry is inherently abusive to cows.

Thank you for speaking up for animals at this critical junction in US history!

Animal advocates, particularly those working on banning the retail sale of dogs, cats and other animals in pet stores have been often confronted with the issue that Kijiji, an on-line retailer of many things, including puppies, sells dogs from what appear to be puppy mills (i.e. USDA breeders with hundreds of dogs).

Barbara Lapointe, an advocate for banning the sale of mill-sourced puppies in Canada, is taking on the Kijiji issue upfront and center. Below, Barbara writes about her work to address the Kijiji conundrum.

Kijiji Canada is ignoring me and the 35,000 people who signed this petition and told me that they will continue to do what they have done over the last few years – rely on animal welfare groups to identify users of concern, prevent possible puppy mills, or unscrupulous breeders.

I think that it shouldn’t be up to the public and animal welfare organizations to monitor Kijiji’s ads. If Kijiji feels the need to rely on the public to identify problematic ads, it means there is a problem, which is that puppy mill operators are in fact posting on Kijiji. And not to mention the fact that the time these animal welfare groups spend trying to stop puppy mills selling on Kijiji, they are not spending it on educational and lifesaving programs.

I believe that at this point, Kijiji Canada cares about what animal welfare groups feel about allowing both adoptions and sales on their website.

If you work at or volunteer at an animal welfare or rescue group, send Barbara an email at barbara@arabrab.com regarding how they feel about allowing both adoptions and sales on Kijiji Canada. Barbara will pass it along to Shawn McIntyre, Community Relations manager at Kijiji Canada.